Friday, March 15, 2013

March 14

Hola Familia!

The biggest item of news in my life this week is on Sunday, I got
called as coordinating sister for our zone. The assignment came as a
surprise, because we were only going to be here for one more week.
Elders Wo., We.and M. are zone leaders for a week, and as
coordinating sister, I'm basically the liason between them and the
Hermanas. Every night, I get to go visit all of the girls in their rooms
and check up on how they are doing. If they have questions, they ask
me, and it's weird to realize that they see me the way I saw our first
coordinating sister, as a super mature, highly seasoned sister
missionary. I definitely don't feel it. I also have responsabilities in
connection with our new district. This week, we got another district of 6
elders and 6 hermanas. Last night with the Zone Leaders, I got to
welcome them to the zone, explain how things work in the MTC and
introduce them to their schedule for the day. One of the hermanas
inspired the title for my email this week when she sincerely asked me,
"So have you already served your mission?" Haha. Not really. Although, I
was thinking about where I have come from where I was on the first day,
and I can definitely say that if I came home right now, I would be a
very changed person. It's amazing what can happen in six weeks when
you're working hard. Tonight, we get to do some training with the new
district and take them on a tour of campus, which I'm excited for.

The other big news item for our district this week is a little less
lighthearted. I guess it was Thursday night that we had an Elder go home
(which is why we have a trio of zone leaders). The Elders were aware of
what was going on several days in advance which is why they had been
acting so weird, but us hermanas had no idea what was going on until
five red, wet faces walked into our room as class was supposed to start.
We thought maybe somebody had died. It was really sad for us to lose
our Elder, but at the same time, it was a joyful thing because this
Elder is choosing to repent. We know that he came to the MTC for the
right reasons, and likewise he is leaving for the right reasons, and we
have every confidence that he will be back when he is ready. While he
was here, he set an example for us of loving other people, and because
of his testimony of the Savior. I'm really glad that I had the
opportunity to know him. However, I want to say a word to all the young
men out there. First, you ALL NEED TO GO ON MISSIONS!!! Don't even
question that decision. If there is anything in your life that you need
to straighten out so that you can go, DO IT NOW. Do whatever it takes so
that when the time comes you can be prepared and worthy to serve.
Choosing to repent will be the best decision you've ever made, and
coming on a mission will be the best preparation for every part of your
future that you can imagine. I'll be the first to say that repentance is
hard, but it is so worth it. Changing to become like the Savior is why
we are here. Don't let Satan trick you into thinking that repentance is a
burden, because it is beautiful. Soapbox over. At least for now.

One of our investigators committed to baptism this week! That was
cool. I also made a really big mistake with our other investigator,
which just kills me, but it's OK. Antonio is our investigator who has
pretty much had all the discussions before, but has had some major
doubts about the church. We've been working with him to overcome those
doubts, and it's been a long, slow process, but a good experience all
things considered. Last Saturday, we had prepared a lesson for Antonio
that we felt good about, but we had prepared it assuming that his
commitment probably wouldn't have taken him as far is it had the
potential to, because that has kind of been our experience with Antonio.
In short, we weren't expecting the best of him. About two minutes into
our lesson again, Antonio said something and I felt that he had
progressed a lot farther than we had expected. I had the prompting then
that we should alter our plan a little bit and jump ahead to the
assignment we were planning on leaving him that night. However, I didn't
explain my feelings to my companion and she moved on with our plan. I
kind of tried to steer in the direction I thought we needed to go, but
that's hard to do when you're not unified as a companionship. So then,
Antonio described to us the feeling he had had while he was reading the
scriptures, and it was a distinct description of the Spirit. We didn't
think that would have happened, and our plan was to invite him to
continue reading that night and pray to receive an answer. I recognized
that in what he had said, he had already received his answer that the
Book of Mormon is true. But I failed to tell him that. I let Hna. L.
continue with what he had planned, and for the first time ever, our
teacher paused our role play to explain the mistake we had made. By not
explaining to Antonio what it was he had felt, and by asking him to ask
again, we would have taught him to look beyond the mark, to look for a
grand exhibition of the Spirit in order to receive an answer, and that
would have been detrimental in real life. I felt so devastated because I
knew what he was going to say before he said it. I had failed to follow
the promptings of the Spirit, and in doing so, I felt like I had failed
my investigator. I was really very disappointed in myself, but in the
end, I'm really glad that this happened now, because I know what I did
wrong, and next time I'm in a similar situation, I know what I will do
differently. So to recap, I learned two lessons. First, expect the best
of your investigators, or in other words, have Faith. Maybe they won't
keep their commitments, but if they do, you have to have faith that the
gospel is true, the Spirit is real, and that they will work the powerful
effects I know that they can have. Second, when the Spirit prompts,
obey. If we fail to follow the Spirit when it comes, eventually, it will
stop coming.

I have some more pictures for you guys this week. First, Hna. L and I were having a rough day. Second, our Elders. Third, our district.
Fourth, The Hermanas. Fifth, the Hermanas being silly.

I love
you all! I can't wait to talk to you on Wednesday. My next letter will
be from San Antonio!! I can hardly believe it. Have a great one!!